457 visa workers are skilled, industrious and available: employers

Sylvia Pennington

Despite increasing disquiet over the use of 457 visas to import technology workers into Australia, employers have defended the practice saying it creates innovation and opportunity.

Information communication and technology professionals decry the temporary working visa category for driving down salaries and destroying opportunities for skilled workers while they sit on the bench looking for jobs. The IT industry was even accused of 'rorting' the system together with wider industry employers back in March, but this was later disproven.

Parliament passed a bill, in the last sitting in June, requiring businesses to prove they have tried to look for local workers before turning to the visa scheme.

But technology employers insist 457 visa holders are a vital piece of the labour market puzzle.

Dean Robertson, the founder of Mexia, a software consultancy with 11 staff, including two on 457 visas, said while some locals may be kicking their heels, qualifications alone don’t equate to employability.

While anyone can get the former, the latter requires a combination of technical skills, work ethic, willing attitude, team work, realistic salary expectations for the job required and availability within a reasonable timeframe, Mr Robertson said.

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“The people all moaning that they can’t get a job in IT just don’t seem to get that they need to be useful to their employer by satisfying all of the above criteria, not just being qualified in a technology.”

Mr Robertson added the 457 visa program brings much needed competition to the jobs market by cutting the costs of commodity IT roles and providing employers with greater access to experienced, specialist workers, as needed.

And they don’t necessarily take jobs away from willing locals either, said Andrew Thomas, founder of infrastructure consultancy Thomas Duryea.

His firm employs 120 staff, around five per cent of whom are 457 visa holders, typically in senior consulting roles earning north more than $120,000 a year.

“I take the view that it isn’t a zero-sum game,” Mr Thomas said. Rather, the presence of overseas talent can contribute to the creation of a thriving ICT hub.

The 457 visa programs allows for “freer and smoother access to talent, no matter where it comes from,” Mr Thomas said.

“If you attract talent, that creates innovation and opportunity.”

Conversely, tightening the rules around importing staff may result in less work being done locally, C3 Business Solutions managing partner Cameron Wall believes.

“We need to make the process simpler, not tougher,” Mr Wall said.

“If it’s harder to get offshore resources onshore then people will consider offshoring more readily.”

The number of ICT workers in Australia on 457 visas has risen from 5327 in 2009-10 to 9271 in 2011-12, despite slow times in the local technology market which show no signs of easing.

ICT recruiters say the market has been flat since 2012 and have warned IT professionals on the bench that they could remain there for months.

The broader jobs market has mirrored this trend – figures released earlier this week showed the jobless rate for June had hit a four year high of 5.7 per cent. It’s been forecast to reach six per cent and beyond by year’s end.

Despite what appears to be a surplus of locally available ICT talent, the 457 program is still needed to plug the gaps between demand and supply, Peter Acheson, chief executive of recruitment firm Peoplebank CEO said.

“Technologies that didn’t exist 10 years ago – how do you prepare for the shortage as a result?," Mr Acheson said.

“This is a problem somewhat unique to IT…it’s very difficult to match supply and demand perfectly… I don’t believe corporations are deliberately using 457 visas to keep costs down; they’re using them to source difficult to find candidates – I think it’s as simple as that.”

Suzanne Campbell, chief executive, Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), has said 457 visa holders "not only fill real and immediate needs within ICT organisations, but also make a significant and positive contribution to the Australian economy - generating more revenue than cost."

Have you experienced issues with 457 visas in the IT industry? Does your business depend on temporary workers?